A nation divided

Congressional Republicans refuse to consider any so-called jobs bill that contains a tax increase that penalizes the successful. The president and his Democratic allies refuse to consider any jobs bill that does not include another tax on the wealthy. This division, so vividly portrayed in Washington, reflects a division that threatens the nation.

That division is amplified by thousands of people who are now occupying Wall Street, Oakland, Denver and various other locations. President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in general, embrace these protesters. Their embrace includes the Socialist Party, the Nazi Party, the Communist Party, anarchists, people who destroy private property for fun, who defecate on police cars, and people who wallow in sex and drug-filled squalor.

This movement is also embraced by many labor unions. At the root of the protest is the commitment to “fundamentally transform the United States of America” by ending capitalism and replacing it with a government-managed economy.

The other side of the great divide is reflected in the tea party movement that began a couple of years ago. The goal of this movement is very clear: to return the nation to its constitutional foundation by reducing taxes, ending the deficit and reducing the size and scope of the federal government. Tea partiers have assembled peacefully in various places around the country, and then returned to their homes and jobs – and to study groups to organize a more effective campaign to rid the government of those who wish to transform it.

These two philosophical extremes divide the nation as it has not been divided for a hundred years – since the presidential campaign of 1912. Republican Theodore Roosevelt, who served as president from 1901 to 1909, was followed by his vice president, William H. Taft, until the election of 1912. Woodrow Wilson, the “Progressive” Democrat, won the election in 1912 because Roosevelt had a falling out with Taft, created the Bull Moose Party and ran as a third-party candidate.

Like the election in 1912, the election in 2012 will set America’s course for another hundred years. Like the election in 1912, a third-party campaign will surely result in electing Obama again, and insuring an American future of more government management and control that will surely “fundamentally transform the United States of America” into the socialist or communist nation the Occupy Wall Street crowd advocates.

The election of 1912 brought the Federal Reserve, the income tax authorized by the 16th Amendment and the rejection of the states from the business of the federal government by the 17th Amendment.

The U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to “coin money, and regulate the value thereof. …” Under the influence of Progressive Woodrow Wilson, Congress gave that power to the Federal Reserve, which now virtually controls the economic destiny of the nation.

Exercising an imagined wisdom greater than that of the founders, Progressives enacted the 16th Amendment, which gave the federal government the power to tax individuals – unequally. Consequently, the top 10 percent of wage earners ($112,000 or more) pay 70 percent of all taxes. Half the wage earners ($32,000 and less) contribute only 2 percent to the total revenue. Obama, Pelosi, Reid, congressional Democrats and the Wall Street occupiers insist that the “rich” pay an even greater portion of the bill. Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and the congressional Democrats know that the recipients of government largesse are sure to vote for those who continue to take wealth from the people who have been successful and distribute it to those who have not.

Exercising an imagined wisdom greater than that of the founders, Progressives enacted the 17th Amendment, which kicked the states completely out of the federal government. Consequently, states have become administrative units that function at the behest of the federal government. (Learn the full impact of the 17th Amendment here.)

Republicans, on the other hand, are demanding fiscal responsibility, drastic tax reform, massive cuts in the national deficit and a reduction in the size and scope of the federal government. All Republicans sing this same song, each with a slightly different meter and melody. The election in 2012 will decide whether the nation will continue on the road toward socialism, communism and complete government control, or abandon this failed philosophy and return to the principles of freedom enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Without question, the 2012 election is the most important election in a century, since 1912 when Woodrow Wilson took control and imposed the Progressive philosophy that has stifled the economy and enslaved so many Americans.

It matters less which Republican gets elected than getting a president who is not Barack Hussein Obama. Thanks to the tea party and Obama’s blatant failures, the Republicans have a good chance of reclaiming the White House and the Senate, unless someone pulls a Theodore Roosevelt.

Should one of the Republican candidates not like the candidate chosen through the primary process and decide to run as a third-party candidate, Obama will win and remain in the White House. The nation will continue on the road to collectivist ruin.